Do not read without a towel nearby. 💦
In This Week's Edition: Zendaya toys with some boys, A24 pokes the internet bear and Cory Matthews gets his first WIT+ nod
THE QUOTE 🎬 💬
“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they've got ambition, and they've got talent, as well as just beauty. I'm so sick of people saying that love is just all a woman is fit for. I'm so sick of it….
…but I’m so lonely…”
hint: there are two film adaptations of the book, both extremely well regarded
THINK THOUGHTS 💭
Here I was set to talk about the unexpectedly big opening weekend two weeks ago of Civil War, the Alex Garland directed movie about California and Texas teaming up to battle Ron Swanson1, and how the movie had an even 50/50 audience split between self-identified liberals and conservatives.
But then A24 decided to set up shop right outside my window and taunt me with their marketing. So I decided to switch topics. Let me explain…
Last week after it’s great box office results, the indie studio posted a series of posters on Instagram that depicted war scenes from notable U.S. cities - San Francisco, Miami, NYC, Chicago as well as my home city Los Angeles. And not just Los Angeles, but the sub-region of Echo Park where I live and not even just Echo Park, but the lake itself, something I look at literally every morning. When I saw the poster I thought “hah, that’s supposed to be Echo Park Lake, but that is definitely not Echo Park Lake. Is that supposed to be a real giant swan? And why are they trying to kill it??” Chuckled and then moved on with my life.
But the internet did not move on with its life. The internet reacted as it does and pointed out that this was not just a poorly made facsimile, but an AI generated one. Ruh roh. As you’d expect, comments were made and loads of articles with incendiary headlines were written.
Was A24 deep in the shit? Did they fuck up?
If by “shit” you mean money and by “fuck up” you mean plan this perfectly, then yes and yes. Because while people were lamenting this supposed artistic travesty, the studio was getting exactly what it wanted - conversation. (I did a very quick data check and the post was actually one of the account’s most “liked”)
I may be giving the marketing team at A24 too much credit, but I would bet they knew exactly what they were doing. They were provoking to get discussion. There hasn’t been any official statement outside of this snippet from a Hollywood Reporter article saying “A source close to the movie said the images help imagine the nationwide impact of the film’s fictional war. ‘These are AI images inspired by the movie,’ a source said. ‘The entire movie is a big ‘what if’ and so we wanted to continue that thought on social — powerful imagery of iconic landmarks with that dystopian realism.’
Right. But everyone knows how touchy the subject of AI is, especially within Hollywood. It’s especially funny when you consider that the entire movie is about war photographers who are trying to capture the unaltered truth of what’s taking place.
If I were A24, I might try and get even cheekier and point out that these types of fake yet real looking images are exactly the type of media that potentially helped fuel the conflict depicted in the movie, thus they’re just using real life to get across the point of the movie. It’s obviously a bit of the snake biting its own tail situation, but it could cause even more debate on whether that level of meta-ness is helpful or hurtful. Which, again, potentially helps fuel demand to see the film itself. I mean hell, Garland has questioned whether the entire film is “responsible or irresponsible.” In his case I wouldn’t assume it’s an intentional marketing line, but it’s still a good one! Who doesn’t want to see a movie that’s “irresponsible?” Boring people. That’s who.
But what’s not in question is that the movie was tops at the box office again this past weekend. Now is that entirely because of these posters? No, not likely, but it’s possible they helped push the awareness up juuuust a notch such that it could stay atop the monetary podium.
And I think situation is interesting for lots of reason, but not least because we’re going to be dealing with these types of scenarios from now until we each shed our mortal meatsacks. So we should get used to it. And probably get a lot more discerning as we do.
NEWSY BITS 👾
Disney reportedly wants to bring always-on channels to Disney Plus: as every article is saying, it’s basically going back to the “always on” mentality of cable. The report says they’d have themed channels based around their properties (Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars etc.). This pushes traditional streamers into the territory of platforms like Tubi and Pluto TV, which are “free ad-supported streaming television” - aka FAST - services rather than the monthly fee situation you have w/ Disney + and Netflix et al - The Verge
Denis Villeneuve Answers All Your Questions About ‘Dune: Part Two’: if you enjoyed the movie(s) and want more insight into his thinking, this is a fairly brief but enjoyable addendum. Enjoyed this quote in particular on translating the books to screen “There’s so many darlings that you kill. An adaptation is an act of violence.“ - The New York Times
Netflix Will Stop Reporting Subscriber Numbers Starting in 2025: “Netflix said that engagement — time spent with the service — is its best proxy for customer satisfaction.’” They will report “major milestones” in subscribers as (if?) they happen - Variety
Quentin Tarantino Drops ‘The Movie Critic’ As His Final Film: very much a “who gives a shit?” for most, but for those hardcore fans, it’s an interesting development. Context: Tarantino has declared publicly (many times) that he is going to stop making movies after his tenth feature. Why? Because he doesn’t want to be a director that ends his career with “horrible movies“ like he thinks most do - Deadline
EXTRA CREDIT MOVIE(S) 📝
Alien - it’s a 45th anniversary re-release of the stupidly intense (and stupidly awesome) thriller. With an amazing original trailer. We already know what it is, but yes, the reviews are indeed killer. It’s a classic for a reason. Playing in limited theaters Friday
The Feeling That The Time for Doing Something Has Passed - a relationship / sex comedy about mid(ish)-life malaise that looks dryer than the cheeks of someone engaged in the Saltine challenge, but reviews are very welcoming for director / star Joanna Arnow’s first film. Playing in Limited Theaters Friday
Humane - 20% of the humane population needs to die for the world to live, so a married couple volunteers to off themselves, until the mom rescinds her decision which means another family member has to take her place. Cue chaos. It’s the first movie from Caitlin Cronenberg (yes, David’s daughter). Only a couple reviews, but mostly looks more like a fun thought experiment with a couple notables (Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire - Stevie from Schitt’s Creek). Playing in Limited Theaters Friday
NOTABLE NEW RELEASES 🎟 & 📺
Challengers
From the way this thing is being talked about by critics, you’d think Challengers would be wetter than the Kevin Costner led disaster (though beloved by a young Latham) Waterworld. Hell, if I were someone trying to push a few buttons, I might even say this movie looks positively moist.
It’s kind of unavoidable though as things tend to get sweaty in the games of love and tennis, the intertwined threads being pulled here by director Luca Guadagnino (best known for 2017’s Call Me By Your Name) in his newest feature that stars a (dom)inant Zendaya toying with the careers and hearts of best of frenemies Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
But let me pause for second, because when I start an overview like that you might get the wrong impression and think this whole affair is just gonna be a bunch of tawdry sex scenes. But this isn’t 90’s Skinemax and Challengers is far more about the lead up than the climax - sexually or cinematically. And while you should expect the movie to be hella lusty, it’s probably gonna be less gratuitous than you might imagine, though by no means devoid of some “gratuito” body shots…
“If the sex scenes in ‘Challengers’ would merit a PG-13 at best (in part because they’re all either interrupted or post-coital), the tennis scenes are the stuff of a rock-hard XXX. There isn’t an inch of nudity apart from some extras in the locker room showers, and yet Guadagnino shoots the climactic match with a stylistic vulgarity that suggests what sports might look like if Brazzers2 suddenly took over for ESPN.” - from the IndieWire review
🥵
Like the best 30 for 30, you’ll come to see more about the complex humans behind the matches than the sport itself, but the on court action should act as a perfect metaphor for what’s happening off it. Which is a lot, because these three ball smackers are wrapped together so tightly you’d think something would have to bust. But it definitely won’t be a nut. Because remember, this is the no-sex sex movie that might not even be about sex, but desire. Or better yet, the desire to desire.
PS Why shouldn’t you date someone who is into tennis?
Because love means nothing to them.
🎾 🙃
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 2 hrs 11 mins | R | 🍅: 95%
Boy Kills World
Unfortunately for all of us who hung out with the squad of Cory, Topanga, Shawn and Eric growing up, this is not the long-gestating movie sequel to the TV show, Boy Meets World.
Bummer. Because there’s definitely a not so hidden part of my brain that thinks it’d be wicked fun to see a grown up Mr. Matthews fall into a rage spiral a la Michael Douglas in Falling Down as the foot of middle age stomps upon his once tender soul.
But nope, this is - for lack of a better term - (yet) another John Wick-esque revenge focused kill-fest. These choreographed to-the-max endeavors have become ubiquitous in no small part because well, people watch ‘em. The combination of a fairly simplistic story paired with extremely complex fight scenes just seems to work for people. Maybe it’s catharsis for unrealized anger or maybe it’s the modern form of humans enjoying dance, something they’ve done for thousands of years. Ya know, just with a lot more blood (although the amber soaked point shoes of a ballerina post performance may disagree).
But even if they’re similar, each one of these action ballets has a certain twist and Boy Kills World is no different. The first one is that the title character, literally named Boy - played by Bill Skarsgård who was Pennywise in IT, is deaf and mute on account of the evil baddies who also killed his family. He does have an internal monologue though, except it’s not his own voice but a goofy one from an arcade game he played before shit went south (H. Jon Benjamin from Bob’s Burgers). The overall video game tone is apparently omnipresent with everything leading up to “the Final Boss.” This pushes the the movie into a more comedic and sarcastic tone rather than something like the recent Monkey Man, which skirted the lines of self-seriousness.
One “problem” (quotes because some may not see it that way) is that with the deluge of these types of action movies, you’re almost forced to make comparisons against the best of the genre. And here, critics say that while Skarsgård does a good job at a) getting yoked and b) emoting through his physicality, in aggregate, the action is still the focus and while it’s quite good and gets pretty bonkers, it may not make up for some of the other aspects a few reviews have found lacking.
But fwiw, the other reason people probably like these movies so much is that you don’t really have to think much when watching. And the kill count here is sure to turn your brain off, even if your math skills were up to the task of counting.
Out: Friday
Where: Theaters
Details: 1 hr 51 mins | R | 🍅: 65%
TRAILERS! ⏯
Deadpool & Wolverine - the homoeroticism level is sky-high. As is the violence and filthy language. Count me in.
Trap - I’ll just say, watch it before you read about it. It’s the next one from M. Night Shyamalan
Hit Man - this has extremely good reviews. And now it also has a full trailer which lays out the - (fake) hit man / cop who gets wrapped up with a potential mark - plot director Richard Linklater and star Glen Powell wrote together.
Transformers One - soooo Paramount made a Lego Movie (ish) animated prequel to the traditionally ultra serious Transformers series? Huh. To their credit, they did get a Pixar vet (Josh Cooley, who director Toy Story 4) to helm it.
Watches - first feature from Ishana Night Shyamalan, who is, yes, M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter’s, but also a writer and directer of episodes of her dad’s show Servant. It’s a horror movie (natch) about some…thing / one that keeps a group of people trapped in a mysterious box inside a forest.
Blink Twice - engaged couple Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum made a movie together. Kravitz directed, Tatum stars - as a billionaire who takes people to an island where things get weird… er than most billionaire island excursions. I presume?
a fight they would surely lose if this was actually the case
for those chaste among you, Brazzers is a porn site
I just started rewatching Fight Club. 25 years old!